As Jefferson City Country Club PGA Professional Kevin Dunn talked about the virtues of bringing awareness to the impact of cancer on the community while on the driving range Wednesday, his left leg twitched.
"All right, I can't help myself," Dunn said, showing a left-handed reporter poorly hitting shots at a green how to properly hit a wedge shot. "I like to teach golf and help people get better."
Now in his sixth year as head professional at the Jefferson City Country Club, Dunn loves sharing golf with Mid-Missouri residents.
Next month, he wants to combine that passion with a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.
Dunn will be one of 20 men to participate in the third annual Real Men Wear Pink fundraiser to raise awareness and money for the American Cancer Society during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Every day in October, Dunn will wear pink shirts, shorts, belts and hats to raise awareness of the disease. Last year, the fundraiser's 20 participants raised almost $50,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Dunn lost his grandmother to cancer, and the mother of his son-in-law recently died from the disease.
"We're trying to do something about it," Dunn said. "The guys need to take care of themselves, too, because it can happen to anybody."
The Jefferson City Country Club will host a ladies' guest day Oct. 10 to celebrate National Real Men Wear Pink Day to raise money for the event. That afternoon, Dunn will give free lessons for 15-20 minutes each. All the club asks is for a donation to the fundraiser.
Dunn played golf in high school then during his years at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois. With a degree in business management, Dunn worked in retail and later ran a Jimmy John's restaurant in Champagne before moving to Missouri with his wife, Martie, in 1995 for her job as a physical therapist assistant.
"I just didn't like it," Dunn said. "I hated going to work every day. So I tried to get into something that wasn't work."
His first job in golf came at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach in 1996. Later he worked at Osage National Golf Club in Lake Ozark.
By 2000, he earned his Class A status with the PGA of America, which meant he could serve as a club pro. The process required him to pass three business tests, a playing test and an interview with the PGA of America.
Dunn moved to Jefferson City in 2012 when he became the assistant pro at the Jefferson City Country Club. Six years ago he became the head pro. Dunn's job involves sports, even if some of it involves administrative work - scheduling and running tournaments, conducting and scheduling lessons, and officiating tournaments.
Business makes up a larger portion than people may think. Even with the title of head pro, Dunn plays golf only two or three times per month because the other half of his job involves managing the course's staff of about 25 seasonal employees in the summer and managing the club's the pro shop.
"It's a retail operation, basically," Dunn said. "It's kind of like putting a big puzzle together and trying to figure out where the pieces go at the right time and right place."
During his business days, Dunn learned that hiring good employees can make or break any business.
"No matter what realm you're in, if you have good people around you and working with you, (that) makes your job a whole lot easier," Dunn said.
Out on the course at the Jefferson City Country Club, Dunn feels at home.
On the 10th hole, Dunn rattled off tales about the make-up of the course's greens and its founding in 1911. A reconstruction about eight years ago moved the left edge of the 10th green closer to a water hazard, which Dunn thought made for a much prettier hole.
Dunn knows his industry could let him move to some spectacular places in the golf world. Still, as his daughter, Erica, is a freshman at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph and he loves the area, he made it clear Mid-Missouri is home.
"I think this is one of the best courses in Mid-Missouri and probably in the state," Dunn said. "I love this club and the people here."